Week In Review: The Traveling Edition

With pictures, lots and lots of pictures. Lots of words too because that’s my thing.

I’m also back, just in time for another Week In Review post, and boy oh boy, do I have a good one for you today…that’s what she said.

Apparently a vacation hasn’t taken away my naughty edge. I realize this was cause for concern, but fear not. I’ve actually gotten more randy, if such a thing is possible. Foreign soil can do strange things to a girl. Week long vacations don’t hurt either.

My regular readers know the Hubby and I just spent last week in Brussels, Belgium, and my Instagram followers know a two-day side trip to Amsterdam happened as well. The latter also know I launched a #publicbanana eating campaign all across Europe, which I highly encourage you to join…obviously. So grab your long luscious fruit and get chomping, publically of course; photographic evidence is necessary, and bonus points will be awarded if you make eye contact with a stranger, while you eat it.

Here’s looking at you kid.

While you mentally plot your next banana shenanigans, I’m going to get listing all the magical, magnificent, and majestic things I conquered in the last seven days. Strap on your seatbelts because it’s going to be a wild ride, or at least altered from our usual course, since I just so happened to be in a different country. Minor detail.

I toured the city of Brussels and became quite familiar with the local bus, metro, tram, and train system. Me and public transportation are BFF’s now, although I’m not going to lie. We had a rocky start, which involved forty-five degree temperatures, monsoon like rains and a whole lot of fist shaking directed specifically at the map, which was Greek to me (really French – Zut Alors!).

I learned how to make fresh pasta, taught by the pasta master himself, my four-year old nephew.

We made not one, not two, but three different kinds of ravioli. Wild asparagus from the farmers market with goat cheese was our first batch, followed by sautéed garlic mushrooms with Camembert cheese and walnuts, and last but not least, goat cheese and hot peppers. All three were amazing, which means I need to buy a scale, a pasta roller thing-a-ma-jig, and a ravioli press. It’ll probably cost me a fortune, but money is no object when it comes to fresh pasta. Right? Back me up here.

I stayed hydrated, which is especially important when traveling. Special thanks to Alex for reminding me to drink lots and Kirsten for the beverage choice. Multiple flavors mean multiple beverages. It’s like boys and boobs; you can’t just touch one (courtesy of Louis C.K.).

I indulged with dessert a time or two, or six but who’s counting? Certainly not me. It’s highly probable I brought some chocolate stateside with me too (and tomato seeds smuggled from Amsterdam, but that’s a whole ‘nother story).

I went on a handful of runs and countless walks. There was so much walking my feet were crying, and my calves were cramping. I’m not complaining though. Not even a little bit. How could you with views like this?

I went to some museums, because the Hubby tells me cultured people go to museums. Yet, I find most of them stuffy and boring until I met this guy, and immediately was enthralled with his “O” face. Classy indeed.

I took the slow train to Amsterdam, and ya know what? No? Don’t worry, I’m going to tell you. Train stations in Europe are really like what you see in Harry Potter, platforms and all. Who knew? Obviously, not me. As an aside, this was one of the coolest train rides I’ve ever taken. It’s true I have limited experience riding the rails, but the views from this thing were amazing, and it’s a travesty my pictures didn’t come out. Something about a moving vehicle and windows getting in the way.

I plotted out our days in Amsterdam over pineapple pizza and wine.

It’s no wonder I got lost…er I mean temporarily confused, on multiple occasions. Take the canal they said, without mentioning there is literally a canal every which way you turn.

I went to the Anne Frank house, which was incredibly sad and sobering and the botanical gardens, which turned out to be a little gem within the Hermitage section of the city. I highly recommend both.

I visited a coffee shop.

What were you thinking?!

Last, but certainly not least, I ate and ate and ate. Aside from the airline food (yuck), there wasn’t a bad meal to be had. It was foodie heaven, and you’ll have to come back on Wednesday if you want to see all that goodness because this post is far too long already.

Your turn. What did you get down and dirty with in the last, oh I don’t know, seven days or so?

Do you want more vacation pictures, or was this too many as is? What’s your favorite vacation memories? Or your favorite vacation meal? Are you a big fan of museums?

Comments

Great photos, Meghan. The flowers, the tree lined paths…the canals…incredible. Home made ravioli?! How could you resist. Now you can teach us all how to do it! The desserts look incredible. I’ve always heard what an amazing place Amsterdam is. I vote for More vacation photos and of course, I know you’ll fill us all in on the food on Wednesday! Enjoy your Monday, My Dear!!

Ok, so after seeing your photos I immediately got up and ran into the dining room to look at my spouse’s photo of the Anne Frank house windows (a very artistic angular photo, like he does) only to realize that it was in our old house, in Virginia, that the dining room was filled with the Europe photos. Here they are in a box, as there are more windows and doors and less wall space in this place. But I did recognize, a bit, the brick and windows of the building based on my years of seeing that photo.
Too bad it was all pre-digital and I’m lazy.

I’m delighted you drank for me. Thank you for that!

In the surprise of the month, I survived a visit from my MIL, and my parents came too, all for the purpose of watching their grandchildren perform in end-of-year concerts. Yet I managed to get in 9 workouts, 23.1 miles, and 20 Triscuits burned, even though I still feel MapMyWalk is a lying cheating . . . well ’nuff said. I threw in a 10K the other day just to see if I could do it. Simon was good for the first 4.5 miles, then draggy even though we included a stop at the dog park water dish. Apparently I’ll need to tote my own water if I’m going to walk more than 5 miles in a shot.
I also read 2 or 3 books, cleaned the upper 2 stories of the house (see MIL visit) and fixed a bunch of food, one recipe (Roasted Potato Salad with Crème Fraîche Sauce) which is already up on the blog. Yay, me!

Oh! And Bed Bath and Beyond has scales, so if you use a coupon you can get one pretty cheap–and then never scoop and fluff or do anything with flour other than just dump it into the bowl (the bowl is sitting on the scale).

Of course I drank for you. What kind of friend would I be if I couldn’t give you a cheers or three or six. Now if I only I could read books for you too. I’m still on the same book I started weeks ago. So sad, kinda like Map My Walk, the bastard.
Oh and I scored a free scale. My mother-in-law had one she never used so viola, it’s mine now.

Dude. I totally skipped over the rest of your post when I saw that pasta machine. Probably not smart of me to try it now, but I’ve always wanted to make homemade pasta! It looks like it turned out amazing! Going into town now, so I’ll be back later to read the rest 🙂 I just didn’t want to link-up and not comment like a lame-body 😉

And I’m back 😉 So… I’ve always said that I hated ravioli, but I think that’s just because the only kind that I’ve ever been exposed to is the raviloli from my school cafeteria where the meat was grey and the pasta was seriously not pasta-like. More akin to stretched out silly putty maybe? I take back what I said though, because I would without question eat the three different types of ravioli that you all made!

It’s weird. I can stare at exhibits in museums or pointless little fishies swimming around lazy sharks in aquariums all day but stick me at a sporting event and I’ll pay no attention to the game whatsoever.

This is most definitely not your run of the mill cafeteria style ravioli. It was so light and fresh it didn’t need any sauce; just a touch of pesto to keep everything from skipping.
I’m useless at sporting events too. I crowd watch and play on my phone the whole time. I went to an Indians game last summer, and after the game while walking to the car, I asked the Hubby if we had won. Talk about clueless. You and I would make great sporting event companions.

What an incredible trip. I’m so glad you had a good time! I think the best way to get to know a different city (or country, for that matter) is walking, despite all of the leg pains. And taking pictures and sharing them with you blog friends, of course. 😉
I am so looking forward to your WIAW post!
Thanks for sharing your great pictures!

There’s that dessert plate again… and all those ravioli… 🙂 It looks like a beautiful trip and I’m glad you got a chance to do a little bit of everything (that always makes for the best vacation!)

I do love museums (though I think BF would throw a fit if I ever tried to take him) One of my favorite vacations was to Sedona, AZ it was so beautiful, and peaceful and truly awe inspiring (if only it hadn’t been so hot!!)

Please share all the pictures you have (never enough pictures of new and exciting places).

I would like to make an order…ahhh haa haa hemm! <-that was me clearing my throat in case (I just typed cake lol!) you were wondering! 😉

I would like to be transplanted from where I sit now (boring ass cold ass hospital) using your magical Harry Potter train station to that park picture on the left with a plate…no, better make that a bucket of the mushroom ravioli and a glass (or five) of that wine…oh and you of course by my side to watch…er, I mean HELP me eat it…and talk cheese, and deep thoughts…like how I'm pretty sure you laced that blueberry granola with mother frickin' CRACK!!

Oh, and while your hopping around getting all that in order, BRING MORE PICTURES!!!

Answer time!
Best vacation memory: St. Augustine, Florida…first vacation I took after my divorce…I woke up every morning and watched the sun rise over the water (and took about 395863 pictures), listened to the waves, and had a lot of deep thoughts…I swear I "found myself" on that beach…now I just need to figure out where I put me…probably wherever that pesky sock is I lost in the dryer! 😉
Best vacation meal: Dungeoness crab and corn chowder, parmesan crusted scallops, wild rice, and sauteed greens all washed down with TWO glasses of happy hour Chardonnay while dining al fresco in San Francisco (ha, I like the way that sounds!) Oh, and in case you want to drool even more, I have pictures! 😉 http://www.kissmybroccoliblog.com/2011/08/24/what-i-ate-in-san-francisco/
And call me a goob, but I LOVE museums!! I love everything about art so I think it's awesome to see how it's changed over the years and how things are interpreted differently by different cultures. The museum in St. Louis is AWESOME…and FREE!! You should go there one day…you might change your mind! 🙂

I’m so glad we’re IG buddies and I saw a lot of these photos one by one. Otherwise, I’d be sitting in my office at 8am with my head exploding and my coworkers wondering why I’m shouting “chocolate! pasta! beer!”

My nana made homemade ravioli like it was her j-o-b and OH MAN it was one of the most amazing incredible things I have ever experienced. Maybe you could find a cheap pasta roller second hand? It’s garage sale season!

Instagram is like a 24 hour a day food blog. It’s crazy and madness, yet I love it.
I need to meet your nana so she can teach me her homemade pasta ways. Great idea about the garage sale scouring. We have a big one coming up in my neighborhood this month so I’ll have to check it out. I got a scale from my mother-in-law earlier this week (she doesn’t use it so she gave it to me: YEAH) so I’m on my way to homemade pasta heaven.

This was so fun to visit Belgium vicariously through you! Three words: WHAT A TRIP! If ever I doubted that Europe was a chocoholic’s heaven, your pics have proved me wrong ;)! Glad you had a great time and hope you’re feeling recharged 🙂

There can never be too many vacation pictures! (Okay, that’s a lie, it’s totally easy to have too many vacation pictures, but you, lovely lady, are nowhere near that category yet. I want more! And I want that coffee. Like, for realz.) And surprisingly, pasta rollers really aren’t that expensive ($25-ish, although you can spend a lot more if you insist.) Do I know because I went on a I’ll-make-homemade-pasta-spree of my own? Nope, I was going to get into polymer clay. But then I didn’t. But if I had? I’d totally make a polymer clay banana. Or small monster-things making O faces. I love museums–interned at one, in fact–but that doesn’t mean I approach them with anything like culture and class either. I am still so envious of this trip (your Instagram was killing me!)–looks like you saw so much, did so much, ate so much! And all in other countries. Perfection.

And I’m sure my favorite vacation memories are soon-to-be-made 😉 Although, I did have a pretty spectacular trip to Italy a few too many years ago…

MORE VACATION PICTURES, PLEASE. Love them all! The sites look gorgeous, the food mouthwatering, and you: all of the above. Also, I plan to join your public banana eating campaign. I can’t wait to see what other pictures come of it…